Hungarian allotments

There is no need for a polytunnel over here. I've never used one or seen one being used.

I go with the dates on the seed packets and harvest when ripe.

@SimCityAT, do you buy your seeds in Hungary? Sorry to sound stupid but I'm still in the UK until the end of August.

@tristan65

Im in Austria (not far from the Hungarian border, and yes I buy them over here. I also have them sent over from the UK from family members.

I don't bother buying tomato seeds and chilli seeds and just buy the plants from Lidl. They are cheap enough.

    I don't bother buying tomato seeds and chilli seeds and just buy the plants from Lidl. They are cheap enough.        -@SimCityAT

UK varieties of tomato don't grow very well in Hungary.   I've brought seeds in from the UK and they didn't work well.

And you need lots of water for toms.   

It hasn't rained for about a week here.  The summer tends to be completely dry punctuated by thunderstorms.   If you can store rainwater, it'll save you a small amount of money.  Water is not expensive here.

There's a bug here (like a stink bug) which will mess up your toms and just about any fruit.  Be prepared to use sprays if you want to save the crop.  They usually turn up when they are actually growing.  Absolute nuisance.

Fruit trees are a good bet but they take time to grow - especially plums, apples, pears, peaches, melons, sour cherries and marrows.

Chilis may only grow for a few months if outside.  The variation in day/night temperature can be 20C.  Keep inside if too cold.

Aphids are everywhere but easy to treat (spray using soapy  - not detergent - water).

BTW, you aren't supposed to bring seeds in here anymore - one of the Brexit benefits.

But like SimCityAT says, just buy some tomatoes in Lidl and save some of the seeds from them.   In any case, any garden centre or DIY store sells seeds. 

The most difficult thing to get is decent starchy potatoes.  HU potatoes are terrible for making chips.  And pots like King Edwards do not grow so well here.  We never had any luck with them anyway, despite trying.

Never had any issues with tomatoes or chilli here.

Of course they need water, no issues with watering them, would be the same as if you had a green house.

Zucchini grows well here, let it grow into a Marrow, great for chutney. Again needs a lot of water.

I keep on meaning to try Garlic 🧄 I keep on forgetting, then it's to late.

Spuds are a funny thing, I ordered online the other day for a shop, because I couldn't be bothered to do a shop, and they had they every kind of potatoes. So they are available around here. Just no idea on the different names.

    Never had any issues with tomatoes or chilli here. Of course they need water, no issues with watering them, would be the same as if you had a green house. Zucchini grows well here, let it grow into a Marrow, great for chutney. Again needs a lot of water. I keep on meaning to try Garlic 🧄 I keep on forgetting, then it's to late. Spuds are a funny thing, I ordered online the other day for a shop, because I couldn't be bothered to do a shop, and they had they every kind of potatoes. So they are available around here. Just no idea on the different names.        -@SimCityAT

We found our toms split because of water issues.  They really need a good soaking each day.  If we go away, they don't get watered, splits and the bugs appear.

There seem to be ordinary HU potatoes here of only perhaps, 1 or 2 varieties - maybe a red one and a white one.    We don't know the names either.  But the traditional ones we see in Northern Europe just don't seem to exist here.   

King Edwards is a great variety. I remember getting them with my parents at the greengrocer.  They were big potatoes, massive great lumps and very starchy.  Starch makes for very nice crispy chips.   That's why it's hard to make good crispy sweet potato chips - no starch in them.

We tried them here and we didn't on well with them.  Possibly it's just too dry or too warm for them.

Jerusalem artichokes (also useful for chips) grow here with abandon.   In fact, so much so, it's really hard to get rid of them.  They are a substitute for potatoes but one will really suffer if one eats too many - hence their nickname Fartichokes.  They do have very nice flowers on them at the end of season.

We got some Italian variety chilis and these are fantastically productive.  We keep them in a pot so we can save them inside if it gets too cold.  I've just started using tomato food on them. We'll see if it works.

Ah yes, tomato food, get it in Poundland if coming in by car.  It's quite expensive here.  In Obi, maybe 1.5L bottle is like 2500-3000 HUF but in Poundland, 1L is about a £1. 

But also, we make our own compost.  I just expanded our compost bin to double the size.  I reckon ours is 10 x better than the shop bought stuff.   I have two sections, one with rotted down stuff almost ready to go and the other side is new stuff for breaking down.  I alternate between them, turning over regularly to get air in and we layer earth/compost on the new stuff to bring in the bacteria, worms and microbes.    We dig in the rotted down compost into the growing beds each season or we use it in pots.  More recently, we've been adding clean cardboard (egg boxes mainly) into the compost to improve it.  It's carbon and it's made a difference to the quality.   A composting rule is supposed to be something like 1/3 carbon and 2/3 leafy greens.  Something like that.

p.s. I just dug out about 20L of compost from our heap to pot a tree while we decide where to move it.  Really nice looking rich and solid material. Cost 0 HUF.

On a slightly different note, what is the Hungarian equivalent to the likes of B&Q, Screwfix etc?

    On a slightly different note, what is the Hungarian equivalent to the likes of B&Q, Screwfix etc?
   

    -@tristan65

OBI > https://www.obi.hu

        On a slightly different note, what is the Hungarian equivalent to the likes of B&Q, Screwfix etc?        -@tristan65OBI > https://www.obi.hu-@SimCityAT

OBI can be quite expensive, even frustrating and annoying.  I also check local suppliers web sites. It's surprising how much OBI overcharges and doesn't stock. There's also Praktiker.hu.

Depending on what you are buying it's well worth shopping around.

I also check prices at:

arukereso.hu  (anything)

www.argep.hu(usually IT or electrical gear)

jofogas.hu (2nd hand)

Apparently there are free giveways (Freecycle type offers) on local Facebook groups.

Knowledge of Hungarian is not always big help.  Some things have really obscure names in Hungarian as they've had to invent local versions of them from other languages.  Sometimes I wonder why they bother to do that. 

Ordinary people have no idea what these invented words are.  Example: computer is "számítógép" ("calculating machine") but while everyone knows that word, everyone knows what a computer is so why bother?  Like "laptop" seems to be laptop, no translation required. 

Germany does the same - sometimes inventing new words hardly anyone uses.  And let's not talk about the French interest in new words in French no-one truly uses (i.e. VTT vs Mountain Bike).

I have just done a bit of digging around (pun intended) and found this site, https://burgonya-hu.translate.goog/fajt … sch=httpIt lists the different potatoes they grow in Hungary. You may find it helpful, or not.

This is th Austrian clasified ads, and so many going for free.

https://www.willhaben.at

    I have just done a bit of digging around (pun intended) and found this site,
[link under review]
It lists the different potatoes they grow in Hungary. You may find it helpful, or not.
   

    -@tristan65

I might but the link is under review.  It's a potato information famine.

For some reason Maris Piper comes to mind as the default HU potato.

Jersey New Potatoes - here? No chance.

@fluffy2560 Maris pipers are a good spud. A mate of mine has an arable farm, he grows them, Charlottes and Wilja.

    @fluffy2560 Maris pipers are a good spud. A mate of mine has an arable farm, he grows them, Charlottes and Wilja.
   

    -@tristan65

Wilja not familiar with.  Charlottes I remember vaguely. 

Maris Piper might be waxy if I remember correctly.   

Funnily enough Mrs F went to get some potatoes yesterday and saw they only had New Potatoes in Tesco.  Not sure if they were from Jersey but I doubt it.

I wonder where McDs get their spuds from?   I think possibly Poland.

Dutch or Belgian chips - best chips ever especially with mayo.

Wlija are great for jacket spud, Pipers are a main crop and good for everything, Charlottes are a nice early spud, good in salads.

    Wlija are great for jacket spud, Pipers are a main crop and good for everything, Charlottes are a nice early spud, good in salads.
   

    -@tristan65

I read online there are more than 3000 different types of potato.   Really a very versatile plant.

Some of them do not look the part at all.

Nice jacket potato with some chili con carne or curry on it.   What's not to like?

You can get a reasonable approximation to Dutch/Belgian fritesaus (mayo) at Aldi here.